Sunday, September 9, 2007

Lesson 13: Who's afraid of George Bernard Shaw?

No matter what happens and who says what or calls me what names, I will stick to my resolution, hold on to my Faith, not get scared.That will be my contribution today (every other day).Yours?

And the Faith, goes for ALL or whatever You choose to do... Even if it means being a rock star who works and parties like crazy and yet MAKES time to spend with his parents on most weekends. It's funny; that people who stay with parents don't have the time. Or sometimes, parents don't have time. Let's all do our thing and those who want to pitch in, do so, okay? (Simple things, real people, real inspiration, thank you rock star)

“Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it”: George Bernard Shaw.That quote is the beginning of a forwarded, well-worded post declaring, ‘Patriotism is outdated’. The mail said the post was "partially inspired by your blog, but perhaps you won't like the contents". Loved the writing! As for the patrtiotism=jingoism part, shrug.

Patriotism, nationalism and jingoism have unfortunately become three sides to the same coin; and as anyone will tell you, no coin has three sides. The point being? Some choose to care for the nation and forget that a nation IS made of people, aka the Human Race. Others choose to work for the Human Race and since it’s kind of practically not possible to reach out to the whole lot, choose to start from their country. And since, India IS the second largest populated nation in the world, one can safely say, hell, this patriotism sure is targeting a large number of that human race. And yes, I believe I am patriotic. You can call me jingoistic. :) I love adjectives. Citizen J Bo, Jingoist. Got a nice ring to it, no? And as was the response to that post – very graciously accepted by the poster, goes to show we ARE a thinking people – will reiterate, we come in love, peace and Faith.You never know when you need the Faith. It's eerie... when I had written those words in someone's scrapbook earlier in the morning, I had no inkling of 'who' I would meet later in the day... someone, with Faith.

Lonely Socks Project: Who will wear the socks and tee shirts?Very slowly, we are spreading the word that we are looking for lonely socks (if you have lost one, mismatched pairs) and old tee shirts in all sizes. While the tee shirts can be old, we don’t want torn/unwearable ones.Someone said, “Hey, old tee shirts are the most comfortable to wear. People won’t give those.” Well am sure the DK-DnG type will have ONE non-branded, bought-at-Sarojini Nagar market tee to spare? If not, no issues… Delhi is big enough, and if there is one person taking home Rs 27,000 and still able to spare ONE old tee shirt; am sure there will be others. (smiles)

Anyone hate an old tee so much, you wouldn’t mind giving it to us? No torn or unwearable ones. We want tee shirts not pochcha kapda (floor swabs).

Good Deeds @ Re 1/- OnlyI don’t like giving money to beggars. For one, I am never sure if that money is not going into some corrupt beat constable’s pocket and two, if it won’t fund someone’s crack/smack habits. So instead I give toffees and sometimes food. I realized that urchins enjoy chewing gums more than candies... They last longer. Also, charity does not need a lot of money. Delhi alone has 1.37 crore, even if you remove MOST and JUST 5 lakh people contribute Re 1...

Today, we tried something; let's call it Experiment 1.We were sitting in Bacchus (dinghy restaurant in Vasant Vihar) meeting Citizen Crimson – yes, first Shitizen meet of sorts – when, on a whim, decided to talk Shitizenship with those in the restaurant and see if it made sense to non-bloggers as well... But before that, a little about what led to Experiment 1:

Just before entering the restaurant, we bumped into people from The Faith Foundation* (pic courtesy: The Hindu) . What is The Faith Foundation? A lawyer, a PR lady, some other people… who teach rag pickers and slum kids near posh PVR Priya on Sundays. No, they don’t charge. No, no one is sponsoring them. No, they have not received any awards. No, they are not mad. They are Humans, who feel. Who don’t think that contributing money would reduce their EMIs. It was funny. Most children wished us “goodmorning”, we folded our hands, they folded their hands… Kids, heh heh, would do what you ask them to (and what makes them vulnerable too). So we are hoping we would be able to find MORE volunteers for Faith. They have agreed to take the socks and tee shirts we collect. So we know who we will give our first collection to.

And what did we do? We made a little poster (have it with me, will keep it and see it survives to scanning stage!) – very poor, very falling apart, on bad quality tissue and walked around the restaurant, spoke to people, asked them if they would give us Re 1/- only to buy toffees for the “students” who were sitting outside and studying. We invited all those who were contributing to come and SEE us giving the kids the sweets. Took an empty ashtray and walked around… and collected Rs 14. (Smiles) The kids from Faith had long left for their respective “jobs”. The money is with me. With the names of those who have contributed. Am going to collect more and make that a Rs 100… and go back with sweets... the first time. Faith Foundation needs crayons, copies, pencils, erasers… much more. Click on their link, see what you can do.

And those too lazy = Do you have Re 1 to spare? I will give you a bill AND you will SEE proof on this site of WHERE the money is being used. Write to me. I DON’T want more than Re 1 from ANYONE. Even if you are The, Vijay Mallya.

So I walked up to, perhaps-21-years-old Rahul Singh and he took out a Rs 5 coin and as I left to get him change, he said, “No, no, we are five people in my family, that’s Re 1 from each.” He wore an ear ring, spiked hair and some branded tee. Have I mentioned lately, I LOVE this generation! Yippee yay!

PS: Name calling update1. You are a shitizen, therefore you couldn't think of another name.Yes, sorry, I have been a shitizen, forgot my duties. Give me time, let me mend my ways. Then, I come after you. Okay, deal?2. You are a jingoistic monkey. Aiyah, no issues with the jingoistic-bit, I severely protest to monkey. No tail! Try orang utan? But no orang(e)!

ON-GROUND, OFF-BLOG WORK

The Logo

60-years-of-Indepedence: Does it matter? Some things - both good and bad - have not changed. We cannot answer if one person can make a difference. Usually, for one person to make ANY difference, he/she needs MORE PEOPLE behind them. This is one start, hoping more would join. In the time of superheroes, this country needs a Hero. We are not the heroes. We are the anti-heroes. Show allegiance, join in, we need more people to write, click pics, discuss, draw, shoot videos... whatever. Whenever you want to, or talk and share stories. A course in writing or workshop is not needed, just a will and a want are. Don't send friend requests. We don't care for friends. But we care for ideas. It is our country, and yours; and we are not bothered about those who don't care. Yet. Email: jhoomur@gmail.com

*Disclaimer

The use of the term 'shitizen' is not to disrespect India or my countrymen; however, each time we as a Citizen forget our duties, we become a Shitizen. Also, the header says, THE Indian Shitizen. Not in plural. Those perhaps squirming at the word, need to look inside themselves.